Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk speaks during an unveiling event for Tesla products in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 10, 2024, on this still image taken from a video.
Tesla | Via Reuters
Tesla has falsely suggested in social media posts that its cars are autonomous, potentially misleading and endangering drivers, in keeping with a warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has re-posted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior,” the NHTSA’s Gregory Magno wrote to Tesla’s board in an email in May that was made public on Friday. “Tesla’s postings conflict with its stated messaging that the driving force is to keep up continued control over the dynamic driving task.”
Magno, who’s a division chief inside the agency’s office of defects investigations, warned that viewers of Tesla’s online communications, including posts on X, may expect a automobile with the corporate’s Full Self-Driving Supervised, or FSD, system to have the capabilities of a robotaxi although they require human supervision, meaning a driver able to steer or brake at any time.
Tesla has until Dec. 18 to reply to NHTSA’s letter, which also included requests for extensive information concerning the company’s cars and FSD-related technology. A failure to reply could lead to a maximum of $135.8 million in penalties. The corporate also can ask for an extension.
The NHTSA is investigating possible safety defects in Tesla’s FSD option, a partially automated driving system. The most recent probe followed a series of Tesla collisions that involved the usage of FSD inside 30 seconds of impact. In a single instance, a Tesla driver using FSD fatally struck a pedestrian.
Magno referred to an array of posts shared by Tesla on X, the social network owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. One post showed a driver using FSD to go to a hospital while enduring a possible heart attack. One other showed a driver who said he used FSD for a 50-minute ride home from a sporting event.
Within the posts, Tesla suggested there are “benefits to using FSD while inebriated” or while fatigued, Magno wrote. NHTSA asked Tesla to make its online communications, “consistent” with user instructions, and “appropriate to the extent of capability deployed to the general public roads.”
Musk, who emerged because the principal backer of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, goals to chop federal spending and regulations when the brand new administration begins. He also seeks to create a federal motorcar safety standard for autonomous vehicles.
Tesla shares have climbed 28% within the three trading days since Tuesday’s election, surpassing a market cap of $1 trillion on Friday.
Tesla didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Read the NHTSA letter to Tesla here.
CORRECTION: The story was updated to reflect Gregory Magno’s correct title inside NHTSA.
WATCH: Elon Musk’s big bet on Trump
